


He's My Future, Forgive My Past

by kipobepo



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Nonbinary Jesse Cosay, Nonbinary Lake | Mirror Tulip, Road Trips, She/Her and They/Them Pronouns for Lake, Singing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 14:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30124482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kipobepo/pseuds/kipobepo
Summary: Having been off the train for a few months now, Lake figures it's time she explores her new world- and maybe revisits her old one while they're at it.
Relationships: Jesse Cosay/Lake | Mirror Tulip
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	He's My Future, Forgive My Past

Lake smiled out the car window as the wind whipped around her face, and a strange sense of familiarity washed over her as a new song blared through the speakers. She jumped back as the window rolled up slowly, startled out of their trance.

“I love this song!” Jesse smiled, and Lake couldn’t help but return it. “Dance with me!”

They laughed, refraining from making a smart remark about how Jesse probably shouldn’t be “dancing” while he was driving them both. But he was having fun, and at least had enough sense to keep his eyes on the road and one hand on the wheel, so Lake figured they would let him be for the time being.

An all too familiar verse came on and Lake couldn’t help but sing along.

 _‘Just like old times,’_ a part of her mind whispered.

But that sentiment felt off. She looked in the car's mirror, taking note of their short hair, the lack of glasses. This wasn’t like the other times. She wasn't Tulip's reflection, trapped in the car window, forced to mirror her. They were their own person here, and they had Jesse.

Jesse, who smiled brighter than should be possible when he heard Lake join in.

And besides, when did singing hurt anyone?

Lake leaned down, digging through her partner’s bag for a moment before popping up, having found just what they were looking for.

Using Jesse’s hairbrush as a microphone, she began belting the lyrics with him between laughs.

It was surprisingly easy to lose themselves in the song, the laughter, and the comfort of it all. As the song faded out, Lake almost found herself missing it, though that didn’t seem to make much sense. Every other time that song had played, it felt like torture. Like being forced to be Tulip again, singing and dancing in the car.

Except… they weren’t Tulip. She was Lake.

And this wasn’t Tulip’s car, or Tulip’s parents, or Tulip’s life… it was their own.

She snapped out of thought as she felt Jesse shaking their shoulder, a blush forming when she noticed how close he was to their face.

“Hey, you okay? You kinda zoned out for a bit.”

Lake looked out the front of the car, taking note of the bright red traffic lights, the sounds and smells around them. Jesse must’ve turned the music down, because the new song was barely audible.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just thinking.”

“Hm. Wanna tell me what you’re thinking about?” He asked, turning back to the road as the light turned green.

“Nothing much. It’s nice to see so much of the world. I never thought I’d really get to.”

“Yeah,” Jesse laughed. “Although it’s been the same boring old buildings for the last few hours. Sorry your first real-world adventure is so lame.”

“Hey, this was my idea. You callin’ me lame?”

Jesse’s eyebrows pinched together and a frown grew on his face.

“Of course not.” Jesse paused for a moment, shifting in his seat. “You’re sure you wanna do this?”

Lake groaned exaggeratedly, leaning back in their chair- and, when that didn’t give the effect she wanted, they leaned the chair itself back until it hit the one in the back.

“I’m sure! And I’ll be fine. But it’s cute that you’re worried about me, Cassanova.”

Jesse felt his face heat up at the nickname and gripped the steering wheel tighter for just a moment before relaxing his grip again and letting out a breath. One hand reached down to turn the music back up, though he was careful not to look at Lake directly.

He was still nervous about all this, despite Lake insisting it was okay.

His mind ate at him, fearing that he had pressured them into doing this.

It wasn’t anything that he had intended to push, or even really seriously considered. Just another one of his random questions he had about Lake. But he never expected an answer, let alone one like this.

It should’ve been a harmless question.

He was just curious. About a lot of things, but… also about Tulip.

He had tried not to be, because he knew Lake would probably hate the questions. But there was a part of his mind- an overwhelming part, as of recently- that wanted to know absolutely everything there was to know about them, both her past and present self, which led to a lot of questions about Tulip as well.

He started off with small questions, random little bits here and there, and he was surprised at how little she seemed to care about them.

Not even that she didn’t care, but they were actually engaged and giving thorough answers.

Eventually, Jesse got into a bit more personal questions about their life before. She was more hesitant to answer a lot of those, and he understood. He never meant to push them at all, especially with the questions about Tulip.

Tulip, who they were now on their way to go see. Because of Lake’s suggestion.

Still, his thoughts raced about how he probably overwhelmed Lake with questions about Tulip, maybe they were only putting up with this so he’d stop asking.

Jesse yelped, his train of thought broken by the pain on his forehead.

“What the heck was that for?” Jesse glared at Lake, rubbing his forehead as she laughed behind her hand. “I told you, you’ve gotta stop flicking me. Metal hurts!”

Lake rolled her eyes.

“And I told you you’ve gotta stop overthinking everything.”

Jesse blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m not. I’m driving.”

“You are,” they challenged, raising an eyebrow at him. “Because Bad Romance just came on and you didn’t sing a single word. Not even a little dance.”

Jesse huffed, but didn’t say anything in return, but his grip tightened on the steering wheel. The car seemed too quiet with the car stopped, no air rushing around them and the music turned off.

“Jess, calm down, I’m gonna be fine! Don’t go thinking that you’re forcing me to do this or whatever, you know I don’t let people boss me around.” Lake looked out the window and sighed. She grabbed one of Jesse’s hands, rubbing her thumb across his palm and then squeezing it gently.

“This is kinda important to me. That I do this, I mean. And that’s why I have you with me, too.”

“Not just ‘cus I’m your only ride?” Jesse joked, but he squeezed her hand in return, and a small smile crossed his face.

“No,” Lake mumbled, her tone still soft and sincere. “You ground me. You help me remember who I am, and who I love. And you’re my best friend. Of course I need you here.”

Jesse sniffled, pulling his hand away to wipe his tears away quickly.

“How am I supposed to drive when I’m crying,” he whined, and Lake couldn’t help but laugh at how cute he was. “This is a serious concern! I am driving a vehicle with both of us in it! I need to be able to see!”

Lake scoffed at him. Despite his tears, Lake could see the smile that shined on Jesse’s face and felt their mind find peace as she leaned back out the window, the wind whipping around her. Everything was still uncertain, they knew that. And there was still some anxiety that came along with meeting up with Tulip for the first time- well, the first time since they’d tried to trap her in the mirror realm, but she’d rather forget about that.

Thoughts swarmed their head, anxiety bubbling up in her chest at the thought of this finally happening.

Rather than letting the feelings go, she held onto them, letting them simmer for a bit. Those emotions reminded them that she was a person. This was all real. It wasn’t a dream. And everything would be okay, they were doing this for a reason. Having Tulip there, being able to interact with her… it made it all more real. No matter how terrified they might be, she knew it would help in the long run.

She looked at herself in the rearview mirror, smiling at their reflection. They messed with their hair, which had grown a little bit since the train, and let the feelings of anxiety fall away. She could do this.

Besides, they had Jesse with them. And, when he was around, everything seemed just a bit more manageable.


End file.
